Auctioning the shirts off his back for a friend

Rob Moseley

Wednesday

Feb 22, 2012 at 12:01 AM

When Dewitt Stuckey found out that a close friend and former high school teammate had been critically injured in a motorcycle accident in July 2010, the Oregon linebacker dropped everything and immediately hit Interstate 5 heading south, back to his hometown of Stockton, Calif.

Stuckey was in Talent, between Medford and Ashland near near the California border, when his car stopped running. He made it back to Medford, and was in the airport there when the reality washed over him that his friend, Andrew Cox, was about to die.

“I was in tears,” Stuckey recalled this week. “To have someone so close to you, someone you cherish, to be gone from you in the next minute, reminds you of how short life is. You can’t hold back how you feel about people.”

Nearly two years later, Stuckey is demonstrating his regard for Cox by establishing a scholarship in his name. It will benefit high school players from the Stockton area who want to play in college but don’t have the means. To spark funding for the endeavor, Stuckey is auctioning off three of his game-used jerseys from the 2011 season, including those the Ducks’ third-leading tackler wore in the inaugural Pac-12 title game and the Rose Bowl.

“No matter what you do in life, it really means nothing if you’re not able to share it with people,” Stuckey said. “I’m doing this to honor (Cox) but also to give back to people where I’m from.”

Stuckey hopes the three auctions, which continue through next Wednesday, will allow him to pass along about $500 each to two high school students in next year’s graduating class. He will review scholarship applications, based on athletic and academic performance and community service.

Along with the jersey sales, Stuckey is accepting donations via the Paypal account associated with his eBay auctions. And he intends to pad the final total with money out of his own pocket.

All told, Stuckey has 10 jerseys left over from his playing days; the Ducks give each departing senior his jersey from the most recent bowl game, with the option to buy others at about $50 each, Stuckey said. He said he purchased each version the Ducks wore during his playing days.

Having exhausted his eligibility with the team, Stuckey can now sell the jerseys himself without a penalty. A current player would risk NCAA punishment by doing so.

Up for auction are the freshly modified version of Oregon’s green jersey that Stuckey wore in the Rose Bowl; a version of the green jersey with yellow numerals, from the Pac-12 title game, and a white jersey with green numerals that Stuckey wore for games at Arizona and Colorado, in each of which Stuckey recorded a sack.

Had Cox been afforded the chance — he led Lincoln with 123 tackles as a senior in 2006 but at 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds was overlooked by recruiters — he might have experienced similar success as a college player, Stuckey believes.

“He was a very productive player,” said Stuckey, who was a year younger. “He was all over the football field.”

The two were “best friends” besides playing the same position in high school, Stuckey said. While Stuckey went on to Oregon, where he blossomed into a starter as a senior, Cox got married and had a son, and pursued a career as a pipe fitter, according to The Record newspaper of Stockton.

In July 2010, Cox was riding his motorcycle along with two friends when he struck a car from behind. His condition was critical instantly, Stuckey said, and soon after the family elected to end life support. The flight Stuckey caught from Medford arrived too late for him to get a chance to say goodbye in person.

Eventually, Stuckey hopes the fund named for Cox will help players from all of Stockton’s high schools.

“These are values I’ve been taught ever since I was little, from my grandmother and mother,” Stuckey said. “And then of course being at Oregon helped to strengthen those values.”

Stuckey remains enrolled at the university, and at the end of this term will be nine units shy of his degree in sociology. He intends to enter graduate school eventually, and possibly become a college counselor or academic adviser.

But first, Stuckey would like to play a little more football. He’s training under the guidance of UO strength and conditioning coach Jim Radcliffe, with an eye toward the on-campus pro day workout March 15 that will also be attended by the likes of LaMichael James.

While James is certain to be selected in the NFL draft, Stuckey figures he’ll have to go searching for a free agent contract after the draft. He’s staying positive; after all, that’s the route 2010 Oregon senior Spencer Paysinger took before earning a Super Bowl ring with the New York Giants earlier this month.

“He hit the jackpot,” Stuckey said with a laugh.

Three Oregon fans could feel similarly next week, by winning the auctions for Stuckey’s jerseys. In the process, they’ll keep alive the memory of a childhood friend whose opportunities were tragically cut short.

To access the individual auctions, search for “Dewitt Stuckey” on eBay, click on one of the two items that are found, then click “see other items” in the Seller Info section of the auction page.

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